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Indicator-based approach for flood vulnerability assessment in ancient heritage city of Hoi An, Central Region of Vietnam

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The increasing unpredictable floods due to the effect of climate change across regions of Vietnam have threaten the country’s socio-economic development goals at local, regional and national scales. This paper employs indicator-based approach to calculate Flood Vulnerability Index and generates vulnerability maps that reflect the spatial distribution of flood vulnerability in the Central region of Vietnam, which is the hardest hit flood region and home to many sites of great cultural-historical value. Data were collected from Hoi An’s 2020 statistical yearbook, digital elevation model, land use map, open street map and from surveying experts and civil servants at the city level (representatives of the City People’s Committee, the Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation of Hoi An) and at ward/commune level (representatives of 12 wards and communes). GIS techniques and analytical hierarchy process were applied to analysis the obtained data and generate three scenarios that reflect the impact of vulnerability’s components. The findings indicate that number of organizations in disaster prevention and historical site preservation, road density, the presence of historical sites, flood frequency and average elevation are the key factors affecting the city’s vulnerability to flood hazard in the area of cultural heritage. The empirical results in Hoi An also indicate the importance of the number of poor households as an necessary factor when considering the sensitivity to flood in developing countries. In addition, this study distinguishes the impact of vulnerability’s components by generating different scenarios which clearly proof that having more floods does not always mean high vulnerability and vice versa. More importantly, by looking into the reasons (either transportation, education or other indicators) that leads to the gap between Flood Vulnerability Index in different scenarios, the paper subsequently identifies measures for each locality, whereby the governmental investment budget can be prioritized effectively.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Natural Hazards (2022) 114:2357–2385
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-022-05475-9
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Indicator‑based approach forflood vulnerability assessment
inancient heritage city ofHoi An, Central Region ofVietnam
ThuyLinhNguyen1,2 · ChisatoAsahi3 · ThiAnTran4 · NgocHanhLe5
Received: 15 February 2022 / Accepted: 28 June 2022 / Published online: 17 July 2022
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2022
Abstract
The increasing unpredictable floods due to the effect of climate change across regions of
Vietnam have threaten the country’s socio-economic development goals at local, regional
and national scales. This paper employs indicator-based approach to calculate Flood Vul-
nerability Index and generates vulnerability maps that reflect the spatial distribution of
flood vulnerability in the Central region of Vietnam, which is the hardest hit flood region
and home to many sites of great cultural-historical value. Data were collected from Hoi
An’s 2020 statistical yearbook, digital elevation model, land use map, open street map and
from surveying experts and civil servants at the city level (representatives of the City Peo-
ple’s Committee, the Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation of Hoi
An) and at ward/commune level (representatives of 12 wards and communes). GIS tech-
niques and analytical hierarchy process were applied to analysis the obtained data and gen-
erate three scenarios that reflect the impact of vulnerability’s components. The findings
indicate that number of organizations in disaster prevention and historical site preservation,
road density, the presence of historical sites, flood frequency and average elevation are the
key factors affecting the city’s vulnerability to flood hazard in the area of cultural herit-
age. The empirical results in Hoi An also indicate the importance of the number of poor
households as an necessary factor when considering the sensitivity to flood in developing
countries. In addition, this study distinguishes the impact of vulnerability’s components by
generating different scenarios which clearly proof that having more floods does not always
mean high vulnerability and vice versa. More importantly, by looking into the reasons
(either transportation, education or other indicators) that leads to the gap between Flood
Vulnerability Index in different scenarios, the paper subsequently identifies measures for
each locality, whereby the governmental investment budget can be prioritized effectively.
Keywords Flood vulnerability index· Indicator-based approach· Cultural heritage area·
GIS· Analytic hierarchy process· Vietnam
* Thuy Linh Nguyen
thuylinh@neu.edu.vn
Extended author information available on the last page of the article
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
... The indicator-based methodology serves as a pivotal tool in the assessment of flood vulnerability, designed to clarify the various indicators contributing to the susceptibility of individuals, infrastructure, and systems to flood-related impacts (Leal et al., 2021;Nguyen et al., 2022). Through the combination and quantification of the indicators, it is possible to calculate a flood vulnerability index that represents the spatial variation of vulnerability across different locales. ...
... Through the combination and quantification of the indicators, it is possible to calculate a flood vulnerability index that represents the spatial variation of vulnerability across different locales. The strength of the indicator-based methodology lies in its ability to combine diverse datasets, spanning various scales and contexts, thereby facilitating a comparison and ranking of areas based on their vulnerability (Nasir et al., 2019;Nguyen et al., 2022;Vojtek et al., 2023). This methodological framework not only enhances the precision of vulnerability assessments but also supports the targeted allocation of resources and the development of combined mitigation strategies. ...
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... Vulnerability indicators have also been implemented to examine economic and social facets. In Asia and Europe, respective researchers developed indicator-based approaches for flood vulnerability assessment in Vietnam's ancient heritage city of Hoi An and combined naturebased solutions into a spatial multi-criteria evaluation to counter urban pluvial flooding in Florence, Italy [11,12]. Australia introduced a cultural heritage risk index for climate changerelated risks [13]. ...
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... Hoi An is vulnerable to multiple natural impacts because it is a low-land delta town located near an estuary and coastal environment. The threat is primarily from floods in rainy seasons due to the changing characteristics of land use in the town and surrounding areas (APN, 2018;Nguyen et al., 2022a). Flood impacts will be worse in the coming years due to the compounding impacts of sea-level rise, tidal patterns, and inland floods. ...
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... The traditions and people of Hoi An are the core factors that attract tourists to this place. Hoi An ancient town, has faced no less than ten loods yearly (Nguyen et al., 2022). When the water recedes, many old wooden houses struggle with termites and mould, forcing homeowners to buy materials for restoration. ...
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